No image available
/ 22 April 2008

Call for regulator to delay Eskom tariff hearings

Business Unity South Africa (Busa) has asked the National Energy Regulator of South Africa to delay its public hearings on Eskom’s proposed 53% tariff hike. Briefing the media in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Busa chief executive Jerry Vilakazi said a tariff increase would be ”short-sighted” and was not a sustainable solution to the current electricity crisis.

No image available
/ 23 January 2008

Business chiefs, Eskom meet over power crisis

South African business leaders on Wednesday met the management of Eskom to thrash out ways to cope with an electricity crisis that has caused chaos in factories and offices. Businesses have lost hundreds of millions of rands since South Africa began being hit by rolling power cuts, lasting for up to four hours, about three weeks ago.

No image available
/ 21 January 2008

Dark times ahead for South Africa

South Africa was set on Monday to ration electricity in a bid to stem a spiralling crisis that has dealt a severe blow to its status as the continent’s economic powerhouse. After mounting anger over daily power cuts that have cost business hundreds of millions of rands, the government said it was drawing up plans that could see consumers fined if they exceed set quotas.

No image available
/ 14 December 2007

Investors fear jump to left under Zuma

Investors will closely eye the African National Congress’s election conference next week, fearing a victorious Jacob Zuma would chart a leftist course. Maarten-Jan Bakkum, an economist at ABN Amro Asset Management, said the thought of Zuma governing Africa’s economic powerhouse left many investors uneasy.

No image available
/ 24 October 2007

Busa: ANC succession no threat to economy

The African National Congress (ANC) succession debate does not pose a significant threat to the creditworthiness of rand-denominated debt, Business Unity South Africa (Busa) said on Wednesday. ”We do not expect significant shift in the ANC policy, regardless of the outcome of the conference,” Busa CEO Jerry Vilakazi said.

No image available
/ 11 September 2007

Affirmative action to stay, says business body

The policy of affirmative action in South Africa will remain, despite calls from some labour unions to end it, the chief executive of Business Unity South Africa told Parliament on Tuesday. Since the end of apartheid, the government has targeted black South Africans, women and the disabled for preferential treatment when it comes to jobs which they previously had no access to.