THURSDAY, 11.00AM
COSATU’s week of one-day regional strikes in support of its demand for changes to the draft Basic Conditions of Employment Act moves to Gauteng and Northern Province on Thursday.
THURSDAY, 6.00PM
Cosatu-organised marchers in Johannesburg and Pretoria went off peacefully on Thursday.
In Johannesburg, about 12 000 marchers presented a memorandum to the offices of Business South Africa, while in Pretoria a similar march ended with the handing over of a memorandum to the department of labour.
Meanwhile, Johannesburg police have opened a docket against Cosatu’s Witwatersrand regional secretary Dan Mohapi for contravening the 1993 Regulation of Gatherings Act by deviating from the march’s pre-agreed course and starting time. The march was started ahead of schedule and left out the offices of the labour department, where a memorandum was also to be handed over.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
BoE, SAMGRO FORM NEW BANK IN a complex deal, financial services group Board of Executors and investment holding company Samgro, are to restructure their controlling interest in Boland Bank to create a new investment banking group with combined assets of more than R60-billion and a market capitalisation of more than R15-billion. The new group will be called Orion Selection Holdings.
MAIZE ESTIMATE UP THE National Crop Estimates Committee said on Thursday it had revised its estimate for the 1997 commercial maize crop up, to 8,331-million tons from the 7,966-million tons predicted a month ago. This year’s harvest is expected to be made up of 4,516-tons of white maize and 3,815-million tons of yellow.
NATIONAL LOTTERY ‘NEXT YEAR’ TRADE and Industry Minister Alec Erwin told Parlimanet on Thursday that the SA national lottery is expected to be up and running by late next year, with first prizes being paid early in 1999. He said a lottery is not a panacea for all upliftment problems, but a responsible and voluntary way of raising funds to plough back into the community for its benefit.
IRAN SUPPLIES MOST SA OIL IRAN remains the largest crude oil supplier to SA, according to latest figures from the SA Petroleum Industry Association. Iran supplied 9,3-million tons of crude to SA last year, in spite of a statement last year by Mineral and Energy Affairs Minister Penuell Maduna that SA will become less dependent on Iranian oil. Kuwait, however, is offering strong competition, with competitive pricing pushing Kuwaiti crude exports to SA up fivefold to 2,86-million tons laast year.